On June 5th, the 2004 Star Wars TCG Championship Series came to Sedalia, Missouri. Jess Phillips of Team: Cheat the Game took 1st place—and provided the following comments on his winning decks.

As always, our congratulations to the winners of completed Qualifiers, and best of luck to all SW:TCG players still in competition. (See this listing for a complete schedule.)

Light Side

"Throughout the Star Wars TCG Qualifier season, I tried several different decks... basic Jedi, Dining Hall, and even a Quorum. But in the end, I just didn't feel comfortable with any of them, so I went with 'Cannibal Chewie.'

"In this deck, I tried to combine the best of both worlds. I took two Light Side decks that had been dominating the Qualifier season (Chewie Re-animator and Dining Hall), and attempted to make some abomination between them that would answer anything my opponents threw at me.

"My fellow teammates from Team: Cheat the Game, and a few other teams—Team Cliegg and Team Tony Danza, just to name a couple—tried numerous combinations throughout the season. We knew Dining Hall and Re-animator were the two best decks for Light Side, but that didn't stop us from playing around with a Quorum or regular Jedi decks. One member of our team took 2nd place in Oklahoma with a Dining Hall deck, and that pretty much tipped the scales in its favor."

Dark Side

"On the Dark Side I also tried several different things: Dark Jedi, Death Star, Creatures, and even the Jawas deck. So about a week before the tournament, I had to decide between Jawas or Creatures, and Creatures came out on top. As it was my second version of the Creature deck, I already had a little time to think about its construction.

What the Future Holds

"There have to be changes to my Dark Side deck because of the banned/restricted list. And these changes are just starting to be tested. The main thing I'm looking for is a way to keep the insane build that Kessel System provides. For that, I instantly thought of Death Mark and Jabba's Death Mark. With the low build of the deck, these two should fit in fairly well.

"As for the Light Side, changes are in order, but where and what are two questions that will remain unanswered until we see the full force of The Phantom Menace. Just seeing the Sidious (D) makes any Light Side player cringe. Teamed with Nexu, Force Denial will once again become a major power. As of yet there is not a reliable answer to Cloud City Dining Hall, other than Search for the Rebels or replacing the Location, so we will have to wait and see on that one as well."